The Tri-Blade Alliance
Chapter 30: End of the World
A/N: This is it, everyone. Last chapter for the Aincrad Arc.
S/N: We sincerely hope that you all enjoyed reading so far, and there will be more to come. If you're one of those people who feel that a story is finished if a major arc is, don't worry, there's plenty more of The Tri-Blade Alliance to come.
Disclaimer: We don't own SAO.
Key:
Thoughts
(x)
"Commander," Solar began in a steely tone, "care to explain why that's over your head?" Reflexively, he held Akira closer to him, uncertain—and slightly afraid—of what "Heathcliff" might do next.
"I think I got the answer to that," Kirito said as he straightened. "The reason why the commander's HP never hits yellow is 'cause he's protected by the system. You know, ever since day one, something's always bugging me about this whole thing. I was always wondering, 'Where is he hiding while he watches us and controls everything in this world?'
"Well, the answer's pretty simple. It's basic psychology. In fact, it's so simple, every kid knows it. There's nothing more boring than watching someone else play an RPG...is there, Akihiko Kayaba?" Everyone gasped in shock at Kirito's declaration, looking at the "commander" to make sure the beater was lying.
Heathcliff merely smirked. "Just for my curiosity, would you mind telling me how you figured it out?" Everyone looked at the "commander" in shock and betrayal, save for Kirito.
"The first time I knew something was up was during the duel," Kirito said in a composed manner. "Remember when you turned the tables on me? That move was way too fast."
Heathcliff maintained his smirk and closed his eyes as he said, "Yes, I thought so. It was a mistake to think that it would go unnoticed by you. But you were so strong and fast, the only choice I had was to engage the system's assist mode. Yes, I am Akihiko Kayaba." Heathcliff opened his eyes. "And now that my identity's been revealed, it should come with no surprise that I'm the final boss on the top floor."
"So you've been playing us all this time?!" Arctic growled/shouted, tightening his grip protectively on his girlfriend.
"Yeah," Kirito narrowed his eyes. "So the strongest player in the whole game ends up being the final boss. Kind of cliché, isn't it?"
"Actually," Heathcliff/Kayaba replied, "I like that kind of angle. One thing's for sure. I always thought you'd be the one standing before me at the very end. You know, dual-wielding is a rare skill, the kind that's only given to the player with the fastest reaction time. He is the hero of this story, the one who rises up to challenge the demon king. But you...the power you displayed exceeded my expectations. I guess these unexpected twists and turns are what makes MMORPGs so thrilling to play."
"Our loyalty..." One of the KOB soldiers said while he kept his head and sword pointed toward the ground. "Our hope...How dare you...How dare you?" He demanded, his voice rising in volume. "HOW DARE YOU?" He screamed as he jumped up, bringing his sword down on the "commander". Swiftly, Heathcliff opened his menu and pressed a couple of buttons, which caused his would-be assailant to fall to the floor, paralyzed.
"Paralysis?" Solar said slowly to himself, groaning after as he, Akira and the rest of the front-liners were paralyzed, save for Kirito. "Oh hell no! You don't get off that easily!" Solar growled, easily breaking free due to his maxed-out Fortitude skill, advancing towards Heathcliff. Swiftly, Heathcliff manipulated Solar's paralysis so it became red, forcing Solar to give a shout of pain as he fell to his knees, only within arm's reach from Akira.
"Don't force my hand," Heathcliff stated, looking down at Solar. "You're not the one I wish to face. Now be a good player and stay down." Solar said nothing, choosing not to test the GM's patience anymore and doing nothing, albeit reluctantly.
"Kirito..." Asuna strained as she fell, being supported only by her husband.
"What's the plan now, huh?" Kirito pressed Heathcliff for answers. "You're gonna kill everyone here and cover it up or something?"
"Oh God no," Heathcliff replied. "That wouldn't be very sporting of me. That wouldn't. No, I have a better idea. I'm going to head to for the top floor and wait for all of you there. I'll be inside the Ruby Palace. It's a shame I have to leave you all so soon. I spent lots of time developing the Knights of the Blood Oath and other elite players." At this point, the "commander" turned and started to walk towards the stairs. "Oh well, you're all strong, so I'm sure you'll reach me...eventually."
"Before I go, Kirito," Heathcliff turned around and planted his shield into the ground. "I feel you deserve some kind of reward for discovering my identity, so...I'll give you a chance."
"Chance for what?" Kirito asked, now kneeling next to his paralyzed wife.
"To fight me one-on-one right here and now. Oh, and my immortality will be deactivated. Defeat me and you clear the game, and all of the players will be able to log out from this world, no strings attached. What do you say?"
"Don't do it, Kirito," Asuna begged her husband. "I don't like it. We should fall back." As Asuna said that, Kirito immediately began to have flashbacks of all of the players—some of whom he knew—that have died in SAO. He clenched his hand into a fist as they ran through his mind.
I have to...the beater thought. "Okay, then, let's finish it," he said aloud to Heathcliff.
"Kirito!" Asuna shouted as the beater stood up.
"I'm sorry," Kirito said as he looked down at her. "I can't run away if it means ending this."
"You better not die," Asuna conceded after a moment. "You hear me?"
"No, I'm gonna win. I promise I'm gonna end this world."
Only when Asuna called out to him, "Okay. I believe in you, Kirito," did the beater start advancing to his opponent.
"Kirito, don't!" Agil shouted at his friend.
"Kirito!" Klein shouted from the ground, not wanting his friend to potentially die.
"Agil..." Kirito began when he stopped in front of his friends. "Thanks for supporting a lot of the players in the game since day one. Yeah, I knew you acted like all about the money, but I know you spent every penny you had on helping intermediate players level up." Kirito then focused his attention to the red-haired samurai. "Klein...I'm sorry I bailed on you that day. I think about it all the time."
"D-damn it, Kirito," Klein said, closing his eyes and letting some tears fall. "Don't you apologize! Don't you dare apologize now! I won't accept it! I'll never accept it until we're on the other side and you buy me dinner, God damn it!" Klein shouted.
"You got it." Kirito smiled. "See you on the other side." As he walked past, he made one more stop—this time in front of the Tri-Blade Aliiance's elites. "Solar, Skye...everyone. Thanks for being one of the top guilds in the front lines. I doubt we would've been here without you."
"Kirito..." Solar strained, a single tear falling from his eye.
"Good luck," Akira and Skye said simultaneously, giving the beater warm smiles.
"Don't die," Pearce, Cupid and Eros said, not looking at their friend.
"I won't," Kirito smiled. He then turned his attention to Arctic. "I knew you'd never abandon us, and we sure as hell won't forget all you've done for us, Shadow or not. Thanks."
"Kirito..." Arctic looked down, shielding his eyes from the beater. After a moment, he looked back up and gave Kirito a confident smile. "Win this fight for us."
"You know it." Kirito smiled back and walked up to Heathcliff. "If it's okay, I have a final request to make," he said to the GM.
"What is it?" Heathcliff asked with an amused smile.
"I'm not planning on going down easy. So, if I die today, I want your word you'll fix it so Asuna doesn't kill herself."
Heathcliff's smile grew as he replied, "As you wish."
"No, Kirito!" Asuna shouted at her husband. "That's not fair! You can't do that! It's not fair! No! Kirito!"
As Heathcliff adjusted his HP to match his opponent's and disabled his immortality, Kirito thought to himself, This isn't some in-game duel. It's a fight to the death. Kirito clenched his fists and drew his weapons. That's fine with me, 'cause I'm gonna kill him! Immediately after he finished that thought, both he and Heathcliff disappeared from their spots, reappearing and clashing in the middle of the platform. Kirito broke the clash and slammed his swords down on Heathcliff, who brought his shield up to block the attack. He can block whatever I throw at him, 'cause he designed the dual-wielding skill. And he knows all the combos. Kirito continued to beat relentlessly against Heathcliff's shield, the impacts forcing the GM to back up. I have to beat him with my own power, without using the sword skills. Faster! I gotta go faster! Kirito picked up the pace, eventually cornering Heathcliff. But then...
Heathcliff had grazed Kirito's cheek, causing the beater to lose focus, if only briefly, and mistakenly activated the Dual Blades skill "The Eclipse." Kirito's eyes widened as he realized his mistake, while Heathcliff smirked. I'm sorry, Asuna. Please keep living... Heathcliff blocked each and every one of Kirito's attacks, the last hit holding so much force that Dark Repulsor had broken, and Kirito went into the post-motion delay that came from activating such a high-level skill. Heathcliff took advantage of this and rushed forward while charging a sword skill.
"Game over, Kirito," Heathcliff smirked.
Before the blade slashed through, however, a white figure came in and took the hit—Asuna. She fell back into Kirito's arms, where he watched her HP drop to zero helplessly. Everyone who was watching gasped in shock or closed their eyes to avoid watching the tragic scene unfold. "Asuna...Asuna..." Kirito's eyes began to water as he watched his wife's body start to glow. "You can't...You can't be..."
Asuna smiled sadly as tears started to flow down her glowing cheeks. "I'm sorry...Goodbye..." was all she said before closing her eyes and shattering. Everyone could only watch in tears as Kirito desperately tried to grab the remaining polygons of his now-dead wife, failing to prevent them from slipping past his fingers. When he realized she was gone for good, he collapsed to his knees and started crying silently, but openly at the same time.
"Now, that was a surprise," Heathcliff said with a smile to match his amused tone. "I'm sure I never programmed a way for players to neutralize their own paralysis. I guess sometimes these things happen." Kirito slowly unclenched his left hand, moving it over to the sheath containing Lambent Light with the same speed. "Hm?" The beater unsheathed the rapier and picked up Elucidator.
Kirito approached Heathcliff, appearing to have lost the will to fight, as he swung Elucidator slowly and without conviction, allowing the GM to dodge the hit. When Kirito brought his sword back up for another swing, Heathcliff merely closed his eyes and sighed, knocking Elucidator out of his hands. Kirito did nothing, not even flinching as Heathcliff ran his sword through him. Kirito simply looked down at the blade pierced through his chest before looking up at the sword's owner. Knowing there was nothing he could do, Kirito simply closed his eyes and waited for his HP to drop to zero. It's over now...
"I believe in you, Kirito." Kirito gasped as Asuna's voice rang in his ears, falling back and shattering, seemingly joining his wife in the afterlife...until his fragments turned gold instead of disappearing, and reformed. "Not yet..." The beater's avatar reappeared in front of his killer, transparent as if he were a ghost.
"Huh?" Heathcliff seemed surprised at this sudden turn of events.
"Not yet!" Kirito clenched his teeth and walked forward, causing Heathcliff to step back. Kirito raised Lambent Light and picked his head up. "AHHH!" The beater shouted as he ran the rapier through the smirking GM. Heathcliff said nothing, and closed his eyes as his HP bar disappeared, having dropped to zero. We did it, didn't we? Kirito thought as he looked down at his wife's weapon, the rapier pierced through Heathcliff, before finally shattering and causing a bright flash. His fragments didn't disappear; rather, they spread all around Castle Aincrad, as the following announcement played through the floors of the castle:
"On November 7th, at 2:55 P.M., the game has been cleared. Repeat, the game has been cleared."
(x)
(A/N: Play "Sunrise" by Our Last Night)
"Is it...over?" Skye asked in slight disbelief.
"Yeah...I think so," Eros responded after realizing that this wasn't a dream.
"But we lost Asuna...and Kirito…" Cupid added in sadly.
"As sad as it seems," Solar responded to Cupid, "they gave their lives so everyone else could log out. That's what it looked like, at least. We don't know for sure."
Pearce walked over to his guildmates and plopped down next to Cupid. "I, for one, am hoping they're still alive."
"You're not alone," Arctic said, wrapping an arm around Skye and pulling her closer to him, letting her rest her head on his shoulder.
"So...is this it?" Akira asked in an unsure, and even sad, tone.
"You mean the guild?" Solar asked. Akira nodded. "Maybe." Everyone suddenly got sad at the thought—until Solar spoke up again, saying, "But it doesn't have to be the end for us."
"What do you mean?" Skye asked, looking over at him.
Solar exhaled to calm himself before answering with, "Shinzou."
"Bless you," Arctic replied.
"No, you dumbass. That's my name. Shinzou Tomoshido."
"What for?" Pearce questioned.
"So we can find each other, and be friends IRL. Why else?"
"Mmm. In that case," Akira spoke up, "I'm Hakari Hashimoto."
"Alex Pearce," Pearce added.
"Your avatar name is your last name?" Solar questioned.
"Yup."
"Respect, man."
"Thanks."
"I'm Rose Lee," Cupid interjected.
"Amanda Smoak," Eros said after a few seconds of silence.
"Aiko Akiyama," Skye shyly added in.
Arctic was silent for a bit before he finally spoke up, saying "Isamu Kagekara."
"So we all know each other's names now, right?" Solar asked. When everyone nodded, he smiled. "Good. I can't wait to see you guys again."
"Yeah," Arctic smiled back. "Me neither."
In an unspoken agreement, the seven friends all congregated for one last group hug. "You guys," Solar said while in the hug, "are the best friends a guy could've asked for."
"We love you too," Arctic said half-jokingly, half-truthfully. On that note, as if on cue, the seven all disappeared, having been officially logged out of Sword Art Online.
(A/N: End the song here.)
(x)
When he opened his eyes, everything was cloudy, causing him to wearily blink. The first thing he saw was the bright fluorescent lights above the bed, which were blinding to him. With effort, he raised his left hand, not surprised to see it bone thin. It took him even more effort to sit up and lean against the headrest of the hospital bed.
Is this real? Slowly, he removed the NerveGear headset from his head, letting his grown-out hair fall down to his lower back. He closed his eyes and let several tears fall. It is. We all finally escaped! When he heard a knock on his hospital door, he quickly wiped his eyes and looked to see a surprisingly beautiful female doctor at the door.
When she felt his eyes on him, she began walking towards him, smiling. While she was walking, he took note of her appearance. The first thing his eyes went to were—HOLY SHIT, SHE'S STACKED!—what she was wearing; the doctor was wearing the traditional lab coat, as well as a blue collared shirt, a pencil skirt with black leggings, and a stethoscope hanging from her neck to complete the look. Before she reached the bed, he looked at her face, and saw that she had black hair that was tied back into a ponytail, and strikingly familiar blue eyes. Those eyes…look just like…
When she was next to his bed, she asked in a joking manner, "Finally awake, huh?" After the patient weakly nodded, she smiled at him again. "Nice to meet you. Before I introduce myself, do you want me to get you some water?" Once again, the patient nodded. "I'll be right back." The doctor left the room and came back seconds later with a full glass of water. The second she handed it to her patient, however, he grabbed it and drank it like a man dying of thirst. "Slow down there, you'll choke if you drink that quickly!"
"Don't…care," he managed to get out after he finished. He set the glass on the nightstand next to him.
"Just be careful! I don't want you dying as soon as you wake up!" She sighed and shook her head slightly before recomposing herself. "Getting past that, I'm Dr. Madoka Kagekara."
The patient's eyes widened in surprise, prompting an eye raise from the observant doctor. "Kagekara? Like...Isamu?"
"Oh!" Dr. Kagekara answered with a surprised tone. "You know my little brother?" The patient nodded. "That'll make taking care of you easier for me. But for the moment, there are other patients that I must attend to. I will see you for your physiotherapy. For now, however," Dr. Kagekara began walking back to the doorway, stopping at the door and turning around to give the patient one last smile before she left, "your family's here to see you, Tomoshido-kun."
A/N: Finally, after two or three years, we finished the Aincrad Arc. It was a hell of a ride, and one we both thoroughly enjoyed. I want to thank everyone who decided to give this story a chance and for seeing it through to the end. You don't know how happy it made me to see a new favorite and/or follow, and positive reviews from you all. I'm not sure if I'll add Bella or Wyvern's Inferno in the next arc, or even future installments from this series. I can guarantee you, though—there's gonna be quite a bit of action, and more OCs.
S/N: While we were working on this, I decided to write a story of my own, called Team JEST. It's a RWBY fanfic, and I'd appreciate it if you checked it out. If you think it's trash, well I agree and that's because I rushed it to get to Volume 3. Also, to help with that transition, Arctic and I will write a crossover between our two stories, which (in my story) will take place in between Volumes 2 and 3, with the opening chapter to Volume 3 beginning directly after the crossover. And it'll feature a character that, if you like this story, will leave you pleasantly surprised.
A/N: This normally never works out but write in your reviews who your favorite OC was in this arc, and why. (I'm a person who likes details).
S/N: We will read and respond to your reviews, and your choices are from all the OC's we've included here, guests or our own. (And a little side note, if you like Wyvern's Inferno, go check out TheSib's stories. They're amazing, I promise.)
A/N: And as always, Read and Review!
S/N: Till next time!